The Battle
by cuite667788
Summary: A LingFan story for LingFan lovers! Ling has to fight his father the emperor after winning the hearts of his subjects and being elected to be the next emperor, however, Lan Fan is extremley worried as she cannot help him. Why is she so worried? Why is she confused? Anxious, confused and worried Lan Fan must let the prince proceed. But will everything go well...?
1. Chapter 1 - BEFORE

**DISCLAIMER: Ling will be mine eventually. HE HE HE. But till then... He's not... So ya know HE DOESN'T BELONG TO ME -.- and neither does Lan Fan. Boooo. I am not responsible for people's _*ahem* otakus *ahem*_ ovaries exploding later on in the story. But enjoy :3**

**A/N: This is set WAYYYY after Ling and Lan Fan fought Father with Ed and Al so they're both probably 19/21. It'd be funny if they were still 15 and then Ed grew taller than Ling. He'd be happy. I WISH I WAS TALLER TOO :( Anyways... Story!**

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**Chapter 1 - BEFORE**

Lan Fan was anxious. It was Ling's first time fighting his father, the Emperor of Xing. As noble as His Majesty's title was, his personality completely contradicted it. He was among the sharpest of men in Xing whose reflexes were fast and tactics were cunning and therefore challenging to apprehend.

What would happen if it went wrong? What would happen if Ling lost a limb? Lan Fan couldn't control her angst. As much as she tried to push it to the side and ignore it, it kept coming back, that arising feeling of unbearable concern for the Prince. She was glad that she had her signature black, white and red mask on to hide her feelings.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the door in front of her opened. Ling appeared, with a toothbrush half sticking out of his mouth and his long dark hair in a mess. Scratching the back of his head and frantically trying to brush his teeth without using his hands, he gestured for Lan Fan to enter. She did so obediently, silently, as she always did – not commenting on how little time he had to get ready for the battle.

Still, she sat on the floor cross legged and watched as the Prince frantically hunted for a hair brush and hair tie.

"Lan Fan!" he cried out in despair, "Have you seen my hair brush? I give up, you win. I need you to help me find my stuff! Now tell me where it is!"

Previously the week before, her and the Prince had made a deal that he would go one week without asking Lan Fan to help him look for his belongings due to his extreme lack of organisation skills. They had added a bet to this, that if he managed to complete said deal, Lan Fan would wear a dress in front of him.

Glad to have won, she grinned broadly and pointed to his chest of draws on the left hand side of his large bedroom. After face-palming, Ling rummaged through them, revealing his hairbrush and hair tie wrapped neatly together, something no one other than Lan Fan would have done.

"YESSSS!" Ling rejoiced. He did have a tendency to get over excited, but Lan Fan was used to his out bursts after spending ten years of her life by his side. "Thanks Lan Fan," he smiled as he took of her hood and ruffled her hair. After feeling embarrassed, she immediately pulled her hood over her head and said "Young Lord, it is nearly time for the battle. Be quick." And with that, she wordlessly got up and was about to leave when Ling grabbed hold of her wrist, faintly turning red.

"H-How much time do I have?" he asked, stuttering slightly because of his hot feelings.

Lan Fan, who was clearly just as taken aback by what Ling had done, removed her wrist from his grasp and said "I-I'm not sure… J-Just be…Q-Quick…" And she left.


	2. Chapter 2 - VICTORY

**DISCLAMER: Darn... Still haven't captur- I MEAN _legally_ GOT THE RIGHTS TO OWN Ling and Lan Fan. So they do not belong to me. THE LITLE CUPBAORD IN MY ROOM SHALL WE AWAITNG THEIR ARRIVAL. Meep :3**

**A/N: The Emperor is a bitch. ~THE TRUTH~ and no I'm not talking about The Gate of Truth. *sassy finger snap* Gurrlll. Wow I need to get a life one day. Where can you buy those wondrous things from? *.***

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**Chapter 2 –MIDDLE**

The door opened and closed again. It was Ling. Well, of course it was Ling, who else would it be? Looking away from Lan Fan's gaze and nervously rubbing his arm he hurriedly directed the way down the enormous, marble engraved corridor. Once they arrived at the hall, they noticed a large crowd of women as well as the rest of the Emperor's sons. The women were not the Emperor's daughters as they were all the same age and looked nothing at all like him.

Ling leaned backwards to Lan Fan and whispered "Who…?" but she pushed him forwards making him clumsily fall over onto his face. Smacking the floor was both painful and a little discouraging to the Prince but she had done the right thing, preparing him for the highly skilled level of combat which he was about to face, as he needed to be ready at any moment.

The Emperor, being a man of well-accomplished skills and tactics, usually did not wait for his enemies to be ready and simply charged straight for them without warning. Lan Fan knew this for she was older and therefore wiser than Ling.

Ling did not understand this and was rather annoyed at Lan Fan's mini-preparation-attack.

"What was that for?!" he hissed as he got up and brushed off the dust and tiny pieces of fluff and carpet strands.

Lan Fan said nothing but lifted her hand toward Ling and pointed straight past his shoulder.

"Huh?" Ling mumbled but suddenly a large and over powering fist came slicing through the air, barely missing his face by a millimetre. It came so quickly and out of nowhere that he felt the wind of the punch blow towards him afterwards. It was so powerful that the Prince needed a moment to recover, but too late, another knuckle came thundering at him and this time Lan Fan's reflexes failed the task of saving the Young Lord. He was hit straight in his right shoulder and sent flying face-first into the wall.

As much as she wanted to, Lan Fan could not interfere. She had been given severe instructions by the Emperor himself to remain discreet during the battle and not aid the Prince, for this was his assessment of strength and masculinity. She stepped back away from the Emperor after bowing and nervously watched from the side-lines along with the mysterious crowd of women.

_Why are these women here?_ she wondered.

The crowd starting cheering for their beloved Emperor as the fight continued. Lan Fan noticed it took the same repeated pattern. Ling continually ducked as the Emperor swung his leg over his head or tried to attack. Attack. Duck. Move. Attack. Duck. Move.

Lan Fan wanted to help the Prince so badly, but by this time now she was at the back of the crowd, amongst the women who were jeering at Ling and screaming for their ruler. Trying with all her might she pushed her way through them and yelled "QUIT BEING AN IDIOT MY LORD! USE YOUR SKILLS! USE YOUR SWORD!"

Ling heard this and faced the crowd, distracted for a moment. In this one moment the Emperor was able to kick Ling in the gut with a lot of force, making him fall to his knees in pain. Grinning heartlessly, he pinned his son to floor, knowing he had won.

"I win, _son_," he taunted and smiled victoriously.

"I don't think so, _father_," Ling replied as he sprung back up onto his feet and pulled out his sword from behind him.

The people booed and hissed at the Prince's supposedly 'weak efforts', but Lan Fan was so happy and enthusiastic for him that she cheered for him loudly, one that could be heard above all the discouragement the crowd was giving him.

Ling was aching all over but knew that he must continue otherwise there would be no chance of him being Emperor. Having already shown his Philosopher's Stone, the Emperor disregarded it and deemed as useless, claiming that another clan many years ago had already produced a Philosopher's Stone. The Prince knew that this was not true; he had researched it in the libraries in Central with Ed.

_That no good son of a bitch_, Ling thought to himself, _He lied to me and the whole of Xing just so that he can continue being the Emperor. I won't let him do that!_

Thinking of this, all of Ling's anger built up within him and he carelessly charged straight to the Emperor, holding out his sword. The Emperor was too quick for him and had soon turned the tables in the fight. Ling's own sword which he was holding was now pressed against his neck, the Emperor forcing Ling to almost kill himself.

The Prince was still fuming with rage and powerfully kicked the Emperor backwards, making him hit his back against the wall. Ling approached his _father_ smugly as he lay there like a helpless bug, and Ling could easily squash him.

However, being the kind person that he was, he could not kill the Emperor, so simply gave him a deep scar on his face.

"I'm not a murderer like you, old man," he said as he looked down at the ruler of Xing. "I don't kill people, but seeing as I have won this fight and am now Emperor; I will order you to be killed."

The Emperor began the shake with fear at the thought of losing his life and begged at the new Emperor's feet. "Please, son, I beg of you. Do not kill me! I will do anything you want! Give you anything you desire, just please, spare my life!"


	3. Chapter 3 - REMEMBERANCE

**DISCLAIMER: I still need to go buy a net and stuff to go track down the Young Lord and his bodyguard. ANYONE KNOW ANY GOOD STALK- I MEAN... NET SHOPS? So ya know, no rights yet... SOMEONE BUY ME THEM FOR MY BIRTHDAY *-* lol my bday's in June anyways. Still, pre-ordering is good :D**

**A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to upload! I have end of year exams in one week. AHHHHH! So yeah I've been revising, so savour the beauty that is this chapter coz I may not write another one for a while. My exams will be over on May 23rd so ya know I might post another chapter then but we'll see. ALSO - urgent question about anime cons, I'd really appreciate someone's help:**

**I want to do an Ouran skit [me as Honey :3] but I'm so confused about whether or not the costumes for the skit have to be homemade and how the whole cosplay masquerade thing works and how it's split into two parts. The con I'm going to is called the London Anime Con (so creative) so if anyone's been and knows please tell me. thanks!**

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**Chapter 3 – REMEMBERANCE**

The Emperor was still shaking and grovelling at Ling's knees when Lan Fan came running over to her Prince and hugged him from behind.

"My Lord! I am so proud of you!" she cried and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Startled and embarrassed, Ling turned his head and saw Lan Fan smiling, that same beautiful smile he had always loved since the day they met. Thinking about it made his cheeks turn a passionate shade of red.

"L-Lan Fan!" he said as he hugged her back. "Thank you," he told her.

"You are the Emperor!" she told him happily as she let go of him and ruffled his hair playfully. Ling's face went slightly redder but after having known Lan Fan for such a long time, he knew that she was only getting him back for him ruffling _her_ hair back in Ling's bedroom.

"And I thought you were just a greedy Prince," she laughed, then having realised what she had said, covered her mouth and bowed apologetically. "Please forgive me, Young Lord."

"No need to bow Lan Fan! It's just me! We're friends!" Ling protested.

He had always hated the fact that Lan Fan was so formal towards him considering the fact that they had been best friends for ten years and were practically siblings at this point – but Ling had still always had another side to his love for Lan Fan, a more romantic and compassionate side which he had been keeping a secret from her for all these years.

The Prince remembered the day they met very well…

_The breeze was warm and soothing as it brushed against the Young Prince's back. Ling, aged five, was in search of a man named Fu, a man chosen to be his trainer and guard for the rest of his life. The man was described to him as tall with a black moustache and long black hair; when Ling's mind processed the information, he had concluded that the man was a giant with a black caterpillar underneath his nose._

_He began marching around the garden, wandering aimlessly in hope of finding this giant-caterpillar-man. As he observed the pond below the curved, timber bridge he was standing on, he saw a few amber coloured scales squint in the sunshine and then dive below the murky depths of the water-filled-abyss – Ling wondered what it would be like to be a fish – free to meander throughout the seven seas, exploring every depth of the universe, breathing happily in the cold and soothing water which surrounded you. He wished to be free and able to do what he wanted, when he wanted without the need of a guardian, a protector…_

_Suddenly a pretty pink petal was caught with the wind and it gently came to rest on the pool's edge, sending rings of rippling water through the river and back again, as though the river was afraid of the petal and shaking in fear – at least, that's what the Prince thought. He had an imaginative mind which the Emperor shunned. The Emperor wanted Ling to be like his brothers: strong, courageous, able to do anything, but to the Prince this meant boring and simple minded. He wished to find someone to share his expressions with, someone like him, different._

_At that moment he was taken away from his thoughts as a small thud hit his ears. The building behind him was the temple, majestic and grand; it stood tall with its golden roof tops and bleak white walls – who could possibly be inside there? Eager to know, the Young Lord whizzed along the planks of wood and past the entrance lined with large marble steps and tall, elusive red pillars with polished engravings on them. He wanted to know who was in his temple, his own private area – everyone else had gathered for the Moon Festival back in the main palace, who had snuck out? Would it be someone who he could finally play with or another boring adult?_

_As he ventured further and further in to the room, more towering pillars, coated with vibrant dragons which were just a blur of jade, ruby and gold, flew past him. He continued to keep his chocolate eyes pinned on his goal, the shrine at the end of the room. Despite the fact that it was night he could still make out the faint outline of something moving thanks to the moonlight shining through the top two windows, almost battling with the blackness of the night in order to help the Prince. His feet carried him forward, onward and onward he ran, often skidding on the smooth marble floor. He had no shoes. His feet were cold. He could not care less though. His sense of adventure and exploration had taken control, he felt the air hit his face as he ran faster, it felt cool and inviting towards the shrine._

_Ling came closer and closer to his target, the shrine was now only a few feet away and he could make out the outline more clearly now against the snow-white radiance._

_When he reached the shrine he trod on a piece of broken glass before seeing anything. The shard went straight into his foot and he yelped in pain. He toppled over backwards as a pool of scarlet liquid began to spread on the serene, white marble tiles. The liquid was flowing everywhere – for one cut it was definitely a lot of blood, meaning that it had gone in deeply and Ling had to take it out. Ling fumbled in the dark and felt the thing poking into his skin. It was actually a kunai..._


End file.
